▶THIS WEDNESDAY The Dartmouth men’s hockey team will return to the ice Wednesday night for a midweek tilt at Union. Game time from Messa Rink in Schenectady, N.Y., is set for 7 p.m.

▶LAST TIME OUT The Big Green dropped a 3-2 overtime decision at Brown Saturday night. Just 24 hours prior, Dartmouth had knocked off No. 8 and defending national champion Yale, 4-1, at Ingalls Rink to earn the first win by a road team in the Elis’ home arena this season.

▶SCOUTING UNION Few teams in the nation are as hot as the Dutchmen are right now, winners of seven straight, including victories against Princeton and defending national runner-up Quinnipiac this past weekend. At 10-3-2 and a share of the top spot in the ECAC Hockey standings with 14 points at 7-1-0, Union made the jump to No. 10 in this week’s USCHO national poll. A balanced scoring attack led by senior Daniel Carr (18 pts), the Dutchmen have eight players who have double-digit point totals through the first 15 games of 2013-14. The goaltending duties continue to fall on the shoulders of junior Colin Stevens, who has posted an 8-1-0 record with a 2.29 goals-against average and a save percentage of .893 in 11 starts.

▶LAST TIME AGAINST UNION The Dutchmen came to Hanover on Nov. 1 and promptly ruined Dartmouth’s home opener with a 7-2 victory. Six Union players posted at least two points in the game with Sam Coatta scoring twice and defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere dishing out three assists. Dartmouth’s Eric Neiley had a goal and an assist, while defenseman Andy Simpson had the other marker for home team.

▶ALL-TIME AT UNION The Green and White are 10-11-5 all-time in road contests against Union. Last season, the two teams played to a 2-2 tie on Feb. 1 in a game broadcast live on The NBC Sports Network. Union swept the ECAC Hockey Quarterfinal match-up with wins of 4-1 and 5-2 in mid-March.

▶ROOKIE GOALS Freshman center Troy Crema became the first Dartmouth player this season to score two goals in a game, netting a pair on the road against Yale on Dec. 6. For the Toronto native, the two goals in the opening 7:22 of the first period also marked the first multi-point game of his young career. Brad Schierhorn’s two tallies against Harvard in Game 3 of last season’s first-round series was the last two-goal effort by a Big Green player. Crema’s second of the game on a beautiful wrist shot over the glove and under the bar proved to be the winner.

▶BIG-TIME ‘TENDERCharles Grant, last week’s ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week, lived up to the honor with a solid road performance at Yale and Brown. He matched his career high with 40 saves against the Elis in New Haven, including making 20 saves in the third period alone, the most for any one period in his career. The following night would see Grant earn a hard-luck loss in overtime in Providence. He did turn aside 37 saves, however, his fourth-best mark since joining the Big Green last season.

▶ASSISTS IN THREE Sophomore Brandon McNally factored into 75% of Dartmouth’s scoring plays in the win at Yale. McNally finished the game with three assists, setting a new career high for points in an outing. He was credited with helpers on both Crema tallies before setting up Brett Patterson for the empty-net goal in the final minute of play.

▶MULTI-POINT EFFORTS Coming into the weekend, the Big Green had seen just four players record multi-point games this season. That number doubled as McNally (3a) and Crema (2g) were able to get on the scoresheet twice at Yale, while Grant Opperman (2a) and Nick Bligh (1g/1a) did so at Brown.

▶BEYOND THE FIRST PERIOD Dartmouth scored six goals in the two games against its Ivy League foes. Of those six tallies, five came in the first period, including three at Yale and two at Brown. Patterson’s empty-netter late in the third in New Haven was Dartmouth’s lone goal of the weekend to come after the opening frame.

▶RESURGENT PK UNIT After giving up at least one power-play goal in seven of the first eight games (all losses), the Big Green penalty killers have stepped up in the last three contests. In that time, opponents have been held 0-for-11 with the man-advantage. Dartmouth has successfully killed 12 straight chances dating back to a McNally slashing call midway through the third period at Quinnipiac on Nov. 16.

▶BREAKING THE SLUMPNick Bligh and Brad Schierhorn broke out of season-long goal scoring slumps in the first period at Brown. Bligh set up Schierhorn with the game’s first marker at 9:10 before netting his own at 18:43. The assist was actually the first point of the season for Bligh as he also notched the second multi-point game of his career and the first since Dec. 1, 2012 when he had two helpers at home against Bentley.

▶BEEN A WHILE SINCE EITHER The win in New Haven was the first since Feb. 17, 2007 and snapped a seven-game slide in the Elm City, while the loss was the first in Meehan Auditorium since Feb. 2, 2008. Since that game, Dartmouth was 5-0-2 in the building, including a win over Brown in the Ivy Shootout in 2012 and a tie with Yale the day before.

▶FIRST-HALF FINALE Wednesday night’s game will mark the end of the first half for the Big Green. The 2012-13 team ended the first half at 7-2-2.

▶WHERE CAN I FIND THE GAME? The game in Schenectady will mark just the second time this season that a Dartmouth game will not be broadcast live on the Ivy League Digital Network. Fans looking to follow the Big Green live can do so at UnionAthletics.tv or at DartmouthSports.com for live stats. Fans can also follow along with live updates on Twitter: @Dartmouth_MIH.

▶WHAT’S AHEAD? Following the meeting with the Dutchmen, the Big Green will not be back in action again until just prior to the New Year. Dartmouth will host Providence, Northeastern and Air Force on Dec. 29-30 as part of this year’s Ledyard Classic.